A total of 76% of UK land is dedicated to agriculture. During
the last 30 years there have been no major changes in the respective shares of
arable land, grassland and rough grazing areas in agricultural use

Source data: DEFRA (2011)

Source data: DEFRA (2011)

There has been a
movement in production since the end of World War Two toward cereal crops coinciding
with a reduction in traditional crop rotations. These changes were in part
driven by the 1947
and 1957 agriculture acts. (see Agriculture in post war Britain)

The amount of tenanted
land has decreased since 1997. This coincides with several local Councils selling their tenanted farms.

Losses of agricultural Land

The total area of rural land lost to urban use between
1945-1990 was 705,000 hectares - an area the size of Greater London,
Berkshire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire combined. The loss of
agricultural land to development is continuing with about 11,000 hectares
developed from 2001 - 2009 (Department for Communities and Local Government,
2011)

This loss of rural land may reduce the long-term capacity to
produce food in an environmentally sustainable way and compromise the ability of the countryside to produce environmental goods, such
as landscapes, natural habitats and tranquil areas.

Brownfield
site awaiting development, Reading, UK

The government plans to build 4 400 000 homes by the year 2016,
the Council for the Protection of Rural England maintain that 75% of these
could be built on previously developed land. i.e. brownfield sites.

Pause
for thought......Is the trend in movement of affluent people to
the countryside and rural villages likely to continue.....state 3 reasons for your answer?

From farm to consumer

UK agriculture has increased in efficiency of production owing to the
increase in artificial inputs, farm size, monoculture, genetics and
ultimately output per person:

Pause
for thought..... Is it inevitable that UK production units will continue to get
bigger and that the majority of the farmed area in the UK will eventually all be under the
control of agribusiness?